TV show description:
Created by Shawn Ryan (The Shield, The Unit, The Chicago Code) and Karl Gajdusek (Dead Like Me), this TV series takes place 500 feet beneath the ocean’s surface, on the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado. Over a radio channel, designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, the personnel are told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan.

A man of principle, honor, and duty, Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders and is then unceremoniously relieved of duty by the White House. A pragmatic man of action, XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) finds himself suddenly in charge of the submarine and facing the same difficult decision. When he also refuses to fire without confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is targeted, fired upon, and hit.

The submarine and its crew find themselves crippled on the ocean floor, declared rogue enemies of their own country. With nowhere left to turn, Chaplin and Kendal take the sub on the run and bring the men and women of the Colorado to an exotic island called Sainte Marina. There, they find refuge, romance and a chance at a new life, even as they try to clear their names and get home.

Lieutenant and Chief Navigator Grace Shepard (Daisy Betts) who’s among the first wave of female officers to serve on US submarines. Her commission is made more difficult by being tinged with nepotism. Grace’s father, Admiral Arthur Shepard, not only has an office at the Pentagon, he counts Marcus as a longtime friend. Grace has to endure the grumbling of the enlisted men, knowing that, on some level, their resentment is justified.

Master Chief Joseph Prosser (Robert Patrick) is the designated leader of all enlisted crew on the Colorado. A career military man, Prosser is the rusty nail that holds the boat together. A longtime confidant to Marcus, Prosser nonetheless finds himself on the other side of the philosophical abyss that starts the trouble.

A Navy Seal named James King (Daniel Lissing) finds himself on a Zodiac in the middle of the Indian Ocean after a mission in Pakistan goes terribly wrong. With members of their team dead, and another gravely wounded, James and the Seals are on a short fuse by the time the Colorado picks them up.

Tani Tumrenjak (Dichen Lachman) is a native of the island. Her father left the island as a young man, and met Tani’s mother in Australia where they lived for many years, before he decided to take his young family back to his home.

A native of France and a citizen of the world, Sophie Girard (Camille de Pazzis) is a trained scientist who happens to be employed by NATO in Sainte Marina when Marcus pulls up his nuclear submarine on the island’s shores. A deeply empathetic person, Sophie is troubled by the death and disruption that the Colorado has brought to Sainte Marina.

Growing up in the killing fields of Liberia, Julian Serrat (Sahr Ngaujah) was born looking for ways to survive. Small of stature, but large of presence, Serrat learned early on how to command respect – by exploiting every loophole, extorting any mark, and cutting off the hands of anyone who steals from him. Serrat found his way to the island via the black market.

Christine Kendal (Jessy Schrams) Sam’s wife of only two years. She’s spent more days without her husband than with him. Before Sam left on this tour, she made him promise it would be his last. That he’d come home to her so they can start a family. After the incident, Christine is forced to find a resolve inside herself to find the strength to defend her husband against accusations of treason.

Kylie Sinclair (Autumn Reeser), a notorious rich girl and the golden child of a leading defense contractor, is afraid of nothing — until she’s given very good reason to be afraid. A prototype of her “baby” — a high tech device that masks sound and disrupts the magnetic signature of submarines, essentially making them invisible — is aboard the Colorado.

Series Finale: Episode #13 — “Controlled Flight Into Terrain”
Three Chinese warships are converging on the island of Sainte Marina. Zheng lets Marcus know that it was only a matter of time before someone called his bluff. The captain heads back to the Colorado to engage the Chinese fleet. Sam accompanies him in handcuffs due to his mutinous partnership with the COB. After Marcus has the XO locked up below, he heads up to the Conn where armed men are waiting for him. They are following the lead of Prosser, who relieves Marcus of his command. He also takes both of the nuclear firing keys before tossing the captain into a locked room with Sam.

Serrat and Zheng take over the command station on the island. Sophie throws a monkey wrench into their plans by taking the computers offline. Now Chinese ships can’t find a rendezvous point to take over the Colorado. This also complicates things for some crew members on the sub. Prosser learns that his mutiny crew made a deal with Zheng. Their new leader is Hal Anders. When the COB is stabbed in the gut with a screwdriver, Grace grabs a discarded weapon and starts firing. She and Prosser are able to escape from the Conn. They barricade themselves in the torpedo room.

Sam manages to grab a knife when men come to take the captain away. He uses the weapon to initiate an escape. When Anders leaves to deal with the situation, Petty Officer Brannan uses the opportunity to free the captain. There’s a gunfight as Marcus and Sam meet up. Brannan holds off the hostile fire until Anders shoots him in the back. Marcus and Sam hole up in an area where they make contact with Sophie. Sam wants her to give the U.S. their coordinates so they can initiate an airstrike on the Colorado. It’s the only way to stop it from falling into enemy hands. Sophie knows this means everyone onboard will die.

Serrat is furious. He knows Sophie helped with the airstrike initiative. Zheng wants Cortez to help him convince Marcus and Sam to deviate from their plan. That’s not going to happen. On the sub, Marcus and Sam share a moment of levity when they argue about which one of them in more need of a psychiatric evaluation. They take their argument to the intercom where Sam asks their captors to weigh in on the debate. This has an increasingly-agitated Anders planning to nuke Marcus’s hometown in Maryland. Fortunately, the captain and the XO still have rudder control.

Prosser lets Grace know that torpedo fuel becomes cyanide gas when it burns. This leads to a plan to deal with the mutinous men who are trying to break into the torpedo room. When the bad guys finally arrive, they see the wounded COB on the floor with a gasmask on his face. A leaking fuel line drips next to him. Prosser flips a lighter to ignite the gas. One man goes down from the poison while Grace takes out the other. She fears Prosser is dead until he gives her a wink from behind his mask.

A desperate Anders prepares to launch missiles on the United States until… CRASH. The Colorado is grounded at the outer shores. Its nose points up above sea level. Anders is injured on the Conn. He sees that the launch has been aborted. The Colorado’s angle and depth are outside the necessary parameters. Anders finds Chaplin grieving over Brannan’s dead body. The captain turns with a gun in hand. He empties his clip to shoot Anders dead.

Tani lets James know that prospectors infiltrated her family’s land. They beat up her brother, wounded her father and killed a friend. They were Zheng’s men. She asks James to help her eliminate the problem. If Zheng goes away, the prospectors go away, too. James reluctantly agrees to do as she asks. He sets up in sniper mode to take out Zheng as he prepares to return to China in disgrace. James is truly struggling with what he’s about to do. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to go through with it. Tani approaches him at the last second. She doesn’t want him to be a killer anymore. James doesn’t want this either.

Hopper takes the money he got from Kylie Sinclair to Manila where he pays off Wes, who turns over Christine. In Washington, Robert is getting sloshed in a hotel room. Kylie receives a call from her dad telling her to retrieve a gun that’s been left for her. The President of the United States then gets on the line. He wants proof of Kylie’s loyalty. Robert knows that means she has to kill him. He wants her to do this so she’ll be able to prove her allegiance. It’s the only way she’ll be able to take down those who are responsible for all that’s happened. BANG! Robert is shot dead. A horrified Kylie had no choice.

U.S. fighters are still scrambling towards the Colorado. The Chinese are on the way, too. Grace and Prosser are ready to escape the sub at the main hatch. Sam lets Marcus know that it’s time to roll, but the captain isn’t going anywhere. He’s not leaving the Colorado empty. Too many things could still go wrong. Marcus says he’s all out of moves, but his XO still has a fight to champion. Sam assures his captain that he will tell the world what they did and why they did it. These two old friends share one final salute with no regrets.

In Washington, Kylie gives Christine the incriminating flash drive. She wants her to tell the press everything. Kylie then heads off to a party where the most powerful people in the country have gathered. Her father tells security that she’s one of them, so there’s no need to search her. Kylie gives her dad a kiss before moving over to the special guest in the center of the room. She calls out to the President of the United States. Kylie then pulls out a hidden gun and shoots the president dead.

Sam, Grace and Prosser make it to shore. They see the fighters lock in on the Colorado. Aboard the sub, Marcus dons the sunglasses he wore when he and his crew last crossed the equator. He lets out a little laugh. The fighters fire missiles at the Colorado and a direct hit results in a massive firestorm. The Colorado and its captain are no more.

Sam addresses to the press corps that’s waiting for the Colorado crew when they return to American soil. He speaks of his captain. He speaks of their mission. He speaks of their long journey to get back home. He fights through the crowd when he sees Christine. The two of them hug each other like they never want to let go. For the first time in a very long time, Sam knows that he truly is home. As for the Colorado, the sub was ultimately lost at sea as was its captain, Marcus Chaplin, who is also now truly home.First aired: January 24, 2013

What do you think? Do you like the Last Resort TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for another season?

Great show!!! Should be brought back!!! Tough to beat out CBS, but we need choices. You actually have to think which is what we need as Americans. Show has some relevance. However, I am surprised the US Navy allows a story line about a renegade nuclear sub that whose Captain possesses morality based on principles – something we lack in this day. Good things never last. My hat is off to the cast and crew for a wonderful job well done. Too bad we allowed this to happen. This was good for our military and the US Navy and our… Read more »

Please don’t cancel Last Resort. One of the best shows on. I can’t wait until the next week. I have even recorded them and re watched them and discovered some of the story line I missed the first time. Half of the people I talk to hadn’t even heard of the show. The show needs better advertising and the rating will go up. Try a different time period. 7 Central time is for young people. Adults are still doing parenting obligations.

I rarely watch TV other than history and documentaries. The night I sat down and watched the first episode of Last Resort I was hooked. There is so much trash on TV these days but this show is extremely interesting, with very good acting and believable events.

Gee…if you had served when I did, 40 odd years ago , you probably could relate to the intrigue, the rogue agents of the government and the possibility that the situation could have occurred..except , in real life , it would have only had one episode…the one in which the cruise missile misses…. Then again, we have a lot of folks at the top of the military triangle playing “spin the bottle”….So, most anything can happen it seems? Gee , that earns my respect…. Show had a decent premise…I think it just didn’t have enough dancing or singing in it… Read more »

CANCELLED ????…why ????? MAYBE cause its too close to the truth since the military has been treated so badly by this administration and is NOW in such bad straits,equipment readiness and morale are WAY down…?????

I love this show! There are are only a very few that I even bother watching, but I haven’t missed an episode of Last Resort (watching it online the next day if I can’t catch it on tv)! My husband is hooked as well. This is one of the best new shows I’ve seen in a very long time. Lots of suspense and plot twists, complex characters, great acting… it has it all! Very unique and well-written show.